'That new Google button was our idea', claims lawsuit

Google has reportedly been slapped with a lawsuit from a New York-based startup that claimed a video sharing feature added to YouTube and Google+ was similar to the one it pitched to the company in 2011.

Be In, which maintains a website called CamUp, made the allegations in a suit filed [PDF] in San Jose, California on 28 June.

The company claimed that it had met with Google execs on two separate occasions to discuss the possibility of collaborating on a "watch with your friends" button being inserted into videos.

Since those confabs, it's alleged by Be In that Google infringed its copyright and misappropriated its trade secrets by adding a similar button to YouTube vids that links directly to Google+'s so-called "Hangouts" page.

Be In further claimed that one Google exec was "extremely enthusiastic" about the feature, but then declined to return any calls from the CamUp site owner following the meetings.

The company also alleged in its lawsuit that the CamUp website received a "spike" in visitors from Mountain View where Google is headquartered. The company claimed Google engineers were perusing the product.

Google declined to comment on Be In's sueball as it is yet to see the filing. ®